2022 NFL Draft: Malik Willis, a tale of two quarterbacks

Hope and despair

When it comes to Willis as a runner, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better rushing quarterback in or out of the Power Five with better stats. Willis had the most rushing yards from a quarterback in all of college football last season with 944 yards, per NCAA.com.  He also ranked ninth in total offense with 3,204 yards in ten games and eighth in points responsible for, with 204. For some context, that’s more points than Trevor Lawrence or Justin Fields last season.

Willis showed in 2020 that he could save a play with his feet when the pocket breaks down or if his preferred receiver isn’t open. This was on display during the Virginia Tech game, where Willis put up 103 rushing yards (third-most yards in a game all season). Every time Willis is in shotgun, defensive coordinators are in a “pick your poison” situation, where they have to choose whether to drop more guys into coverage or keep linebackers at the intermediate levels of the field.

Watching Willis highlight reels, you could be forgiven for assuming he is the next Michael Vick or Lamar Jackson. That’s where the hope lies, at least. Watch below as Willis turns what looks to be an inevitable sack into a huge gain. You can’t do something like that in college football without some legitimate skills as both a runner and a processor of the field.

https://twitter.com/LibertyFootball/status/1320060728443916294

Where the despair comes into the equation is how often Willis gets hit and the things he does in each game that allow defenders to take free shots at him. Multiple times last season, Willis made ill-advised runs into defenders, preferring to lower his shoulder and force his way through one, sometimes two defenders. While this might seem commendable at the moment as an example of a passionate athlete leaving it all on the field, watching Willis take multiple ugly shots as he went to the ground (in lieu of sliding) is a lesson in the art of forehead-slapping.

On various occasions during the Tech game, Willis drew several gasps and “awws” from the crowd. For context, this was an away game for Willis and Liberty. These snap-decision missteps didn’t just happen when he was running with the ball either. Willis had a tendency to drift in the pocket, specifically to his left, when dropping back to pass. Besides putting more pressure on the left side of the offensive line, it also made him more susceptible to delayed blitzes and green dog attacks from linebackers defending the hook/curl or by outside cornerbacks on stunts.

Willis would finish the 2020 season with 10 fumbles, the most by any player in the entire NCAA according to TeamRankings.com. Considering how often Willis ran with the ball last year, the fact he had an elevated fumble rate shouldn’t be a surprise. But watching Willis almost fumble or put the ball in danger several times is a concern, as they indicate that there is a bigger problem at fault here.

Watch the play below to see an example of his poor pocket management. As the left side of the line collapses, Willis should be looking for a dump-off target or an escape route to the right. The right side even had a running back ready to block for him. But instead, Willis hugs the left side of the pocket, keeping his eyes on the inside linebacker who is blitzing, forgetting the defensive tackle coming from behind, giving up an ugly sack-fumble.

Obviously, one bad sack does not define a quarterback. It is also debatable how much responsibility falls in his lap and how much belongs to the offensive line and Liberty play-callers not adjusting to more manageable plays. But you can see this happen again during the fourth quarter (11:14) on a third and 17.

Liberty is up by one point, on a long passing play and it’s a long shot to make a first down. After the snap, both offensive tackles give up pressure quickly, while Willis starts to sidestep to his left. Holding out for a big play downfield, he is outflanked again from behind, giving up another costly fumble.

This sack is reminiscent of a lot of Patrick Mahomes bad hits from college, where he would also drop back, keeping his eyes downfield, holding out for a big play only to lose a ton of yards when it doesn’t work out. So in this respect, yes, Willis does look a lot like Mahomes did when he was in college, except for all the wrong reasons. Mahomes has improved since coming to the NFL, though the problem still pops up from time to time.

What is largely missing from the narrative regarding last season’s victory over Virginia Tech is how strategic playcalling and luck ultimately bailed Willis out of a possible defeat late in the second half. Despite putting up good numbers all game, Willis made a lot of mistakes, almost fumbling a handful of times and giving up costly sacks at the worst time.

Despite winning in an upset, Liberty was able to get into scoring position largely off of big gains from screen plays late in the game, with a few gimmick plays thrown in to keep the defense honest. If any of his multiple almost-fumbles or misplaced passes had been turnovers, this game could have easily gone the other way.

This problem deserves collective responsibility, from both Willis and the Liberty offensive program. That being said, Willis still needs to improve his decision-making in these situations, as they will cause quite a bit of despair for any fans of the football program if Willis continues to give up costly fumbles on what are essentially unforced errors.

Worse than that, these unnecessary hits leave him liable to serious injuries in the future, so long as he continues playing this way. At this point, defensive coordinators know this tendency and will continue to exploit it, if possible. This, conveniently enough, leads us to our final film review point, which simultaneously shows the best and worst problems of Willis as a quarterback.